It is desirable for some energy production processes to store heat energy for later use. For example, in the case of solar thermal energy processes, energy from the sun is only available for a few hours of the day although demand for energy extends well beyond those hours. Because of this, it is desirable to store the thermal energy obtained during peak sun hours for later use.
Thermal energy is typically stored in thermal energy storage media. The most common type of thermal energy storage media is sensible heat storage media, such as oil or sand. In recent years, phase change materials (PCMs) have been identified as possible thermal energy storage media because they exhibit advantages over the conventional sensible heat storage media. However, there are challenges to the use of PCMs. One such challenge is that it can be difficult to efficiently heat PCM. For example, if a PCM is stored within a container, it may be difficult to melt the material in the center of the container because PCMs often have low thermal conductivity and do not conduct heat well from the container walls to the center of the material. It would be desirable to have systems and methods for storing thermal energy that use PCMs but overcome this heating challenge.